Elderly Passenger Dies After Falling From Cruise Ship

A passenger aboard a Holland America Line cruise ship has died after falling into the sea from a tender platform while getting onto a smaller boat. The 70-year-old-woman died on November 7 after she was pulled back on board, Holland America Line said in a statement.

The woman was still conscious when she was pulled from the waters off Avatiu, Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands. “She then lost consciousness on the platform and could not be revived by medical staff at the scene,” the cruise company reported. The reason for the woman’s fall is currently unknown.

An anonymous passenger said that the weather might have been a factor in the incident. “The seas were very rough and it was debatable whether we should have been tendering at all,” the passenger said. A tender is a smaller boat often used to transport passengers and goods between cruise ships and the shore.